Life, 1909-12-16 · page 7 of 32
Life — December 16, 1909 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes the chaos of early 20th-century New York City subway crowding. A well-dressed woman stands apart, looking distressed, while multiple passengers are crammed together in exaggerated, contorted positions. The caption reads: "She: oh! oh! what shall I do! / He: you change here for the local." The joke targets the absurdity of subway congestion—the man's casual suggestion to "change for the local" is darkly humorous given the packed, nearly unmanageable conditions already shown. The woman's panic contrasts with his indifference, mocking both the transit system's failure to manage passengers and commuters' resigned acceptance of these conditions. The cartoon critiques the strain of rapid urban transit on daily life in New York.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE SUBWAY EXPRESS She: ow! on! wuat sitar 1 po! He: you CHANGE Popular Birthdays ALEXANDER AGASSIZ Born December 17, 1835 quam te colimus inviti_ quoque.—Seneca, Mlustrious son of a still more illustrious sire! On this, thy natal day, the zoological departments of the animal king: dom unite to.do thee honor. The Mai including the marsupialia, the edentata and the cetaci ay nothing of the accipitres, the chelonia, and especially the acanthoptergiil, the lophobranchii and the ¢yclostomi, all praise thee and give thee hearty grecting. The cephaloda, the pteropoda and the gastropoda, including the inferobranchia and the. tubuli- branchia, not to mention, among the Articulata the dorsi- branchix, the malacostraca and the lepidoptera, convey their heartiest’ congratulations; while the pedicellata. the peren: chymatosa, the hydrostatice, the polypiarii and the gelatinosi are warm in their praises as their sedentary lives permit What more can we say, dear sir, except to wish thee many happy dynamical, statical, morphological, plasmological and teleological returns of the day! LYMAN ABBOTT Born December 18, 1835 “Custos Morum.” The mantle of Henry Ward Beecher could not have been more worthily bestowed ; but in order that the one upon whom MERE FOR THE LOCAL. it fell should not outshine its illustrious donor, one gift was withheld, His superb sense of humor was not passed on. It is amazing, sir, that the world should be no better than it is, considering the extent of your activities and the wide range of your moral sway; but who can say how much worse it might have been without you? And to have preserved your course serene, without committing the errors against taste which have often been the misfortune of those esteemed more wise, is in itself to be counted one of your chiefest attributes. The possession of an equable temperament, a healthy optimism and_a spirit of lofty tolerance toward orthodoxy, is a rare combination. To have caught Theodore Roosevelt, with a prospect of eventually taming him. is not the least of your public spirited acts. To all this may be justly added that the preacher within you has been consecrated and uplifted by the journalist May you scorn the moving finger of Time among us in unceasing influence BRADLEY MARTIN Born December 18, 1841 Bene ferre magnam Disce fortunam—Horace and continue This is a great privilege. We approach it with the humble- ness of mind that the subject warrants. To be, if not the first, in the very front rank of American social prominence, is surely awe inspiring Mr. Martin. you have excellent judgment in your chosen work and a kind heart. We resnect you for your perse- comicbooks.com |